Lexvold gets one year for fatal crash

A Kenyon man was sentenced in Monday to one year in Goodhue County Jail for causing the crash that killed his best friend.

Chad Leroy Lexvold, 20, pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal vehicular homicide or operation last December. In a plea agreement, three other counts of criminal vehicular homicide, two counts of driving while intoxicated and one count of reckless driving were dismissed.

According to a court complaint filed last October, Lexvold was driving a minivan March 19, 2011, near the intersection of County Road 30 and 50th Street in Holden Township when he lost control. The van rolled multiple times.

Jacob Baalson, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other people, Luke Trevis, 19, Nerstrand, and Nicole Groth, 18, Zumbrota, were also injured in the crash.

Urine tests showed that Lexvold’s blood alcohol content was .18, more than twice the legal driving limit for adults. A crash reconstructionist determined that he had been driving at least 83 miles per hour at the time of the crash.

“There is not one day that goes by where I do not think about what I did,” Lexvold said in Goodhue County District Court Monday. “I love Jacob to the bottom of my heart.”

Lexvold must report for jail by 7 p.m. tonight. He was also sentenced to 10 years’ probation. As part of that probation, he must make three public speaking appearances a year, talking to kids about the dangers of drinking and driving.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Wednesday’s R-E.

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